Recording, Shows, Muppets, and Queen

So much got done today!!!

We (David, Miguel, and me) did some acoustic demos with Ben Strano at Hat Factory Cinco today. I just needed to get some recordings of some of the new material we have started playing that there are no recordings of yet! That was so easy... and fun!

We ate lunch at Siam Cafe which was voted Nashville's Best Thai Restaurant of 2009. And it is the type of place that I probably wouldn't have gone into just by the looks... not unless someone could vouch for it. It's not that it looks gross or anything, but it is tucked away in an unlikely neighborhood... but once you get inside it is cute, the smells are amazing, and I think it is my favorite dish of chicken fried rice. :) Plus, the waitress that is there always gives us (but mostly Ben) a hard time! She's got a very thick accent, but she says things like "I hope it's raining when you leave so you get wet when you walk back!" And then just laughs and laughs all the way back into the kitchen. It's pretty spectacular.

I then came home, got all rock-starred up and headed down to the Rutledge to play an acoustic set for the Berklee students. The Berklee Spring Break Trip is in town this week. They have already gotten to partake in clinics with Alison Krauss and Vince Gill!!! Every year they get a bunch of alumni together to do a show for the kids... just to give them a taste of Nashville! It was so fun - and it is always great to get to catch up with all the Berklee kids and teachers. They kids are so gracious and it feels good to be a part of such a great community. David played with me tonight and he sounded SO good. He is really a talented guy and we are so lucky to have found him. He is a fantastic acoustic player and made me sound great tonight. Thank you David!

And before I head to bed and snuggle with Cinnamon...

I must share a video that was just shared with me. :) It is of one of the BEST versions of one of the greatest songs of all time. Enjoy as the Muppets give you their version of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody!



My favorite part is definitely Animal when he keeps saying "Mamma". What's yours?

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
MAMMMMA!!!!!

~natalie

Fiddlepalooza

Videos are poppin up from Joe's!!! :) Here's the Fiddlepalooza Medley we love to do :) YAY!



In other news:
Tomorrow night I will be playing a 15 minute acoustic set at the Rutledge at 8:30 in Nashville. The Berklee trip is back! A group of Berklee students come down every year on their spring break and get to see the insides of Nashville. Or at least a Cliff's Notes version of the insides. :)

The show is for the students (and anyone else who shows up!) and is put on by alumni that are here in town and in the music world. I get to play with Lots of my favorite talented artists in town:

The Young Republic
Jenn Bostic and Caitlin Nicol Thomas
Maureen Murphy
Megan James
Emily Shackelton
Natalie Prass
Casey Driessen
Charlie Worsham + John Lippencott

So it should be a good time!!!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Keepin It Real

I love working in this biz. Every day is so different. And within the same day, you have to be a business exec, creative person, accountant, web promoter, and part of the "job" is going out to other people's shows :) Man. It's a rough life. :)

I had my first co-write with Emily Shackleton today. What a great way to start the day! She's a fellow Berklee girl, although she started the year after I graduated. Last year we did a song writer's round together for the Berklee trip that comes down for spring break every year, and that is when I fell in love with her music. She is an extremely gifted writer, singer, piano player. And we wrote a great song today called "I'll Be a Fool For You"

She was PUMPED this morning. Her husband who's been out of work for over a year just got offered a dream job this morning! AND yesterday she found out that one of her songs is getting cut by an Australian country artist named Stephanie Brownlee. And she's already shot the video for the song!

The song is called "Keep It Real" and it is adorable. Here's the video!


I am so excited for her! Emily works her tail off. And I am looking forward to writing with her again. First writes can be the most difficult, but you wouldn't know it from today. It was easy as pie! (What a strange expression... pie ain't all that easy).

Off to meditate on song ideas for tomorrow's write!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Spring Break Match Made In Heaven

Couples that meet randomly on spring break in Panama City actually DO last sometimes!!! :) The proof was tonight at Schooners.

Chad and Amanda got married tonight on the beach and then they had their reception at Schooner's. I think tonight was the first time I have ever eaten wedding cake on a break during a show! ; ) They were so sweet.


Ray Tate and Renea Tate Coker grew up with my sister, Stephanie, and they saw my name on the poster for Schooners earlier in the day. They came back to the show tonight, and we figured out that we hadn't seen each other since I was 5 years old!


We had some other Columbia, Tn natives that showed up and I also met a fellow BGA Alum tonight! What a small world.

I leave you with Blair, the bachelorette of the evening... she was on quite the scavenger hunt tonight. She had to find ALL kinds of crazy items.


Tomorrow we play the afternoon beach party. Woo hoo!!!

A Salute To Hoot

After 2 glorious years on the road together, Hootie is flying the nest to live life... well... NOT on the road :)

Hootie first joined the band in February of 2007. He, James, and I were at Berklee at the same time, but we did not know each other while we were at school... not until he answered our Craig's List add and auditioned for us in Nashville!

Hootie was quite the impressive candidate for the band. He was eager, excited, a SLAMMIN player, great singer, and has an incredible ear, so he learns very quickly.

And the poor guy... his first few gigs with us were QUITE the introduction to the band. I was really sick that weekend, but I made it through the first show. The second night... I completely lost my voice and could NOT sing. So the guys were left to their own devices... Charlie and Hootie were both singers, so between the 2 of them, they could cover 4 hours. But it was his second night with us!!! Yeah. I'm sure he was thinking "What the heck have I gotten myself into??"


The Story of "Hoot"

While in our first rehearsal with him, Charlie asked, "So, do you have any nicknames? What do people call you?" To which Joe responded, "Well, my last name is "Huettner" so people have called me 'Hooters'"

James immediately said "Why did you just tell me that? That's your name now, dude."

Over time it morphed into 'Hootie'... probably because I really felt uncomfortable calling him "Hooters"... you know.... every time all I thought of was orange shorts and busty women.

Hootie's come a LONG way since he first joined the band. He was engaged when he joined... he didn't put gel in his hair... he was a lot quieter...

Spinnaker was his FIRST trip on the road with us... which I shall call the BEFORE picture. (Click on it to enlarge)


There's also video evidence of this first trip! It was Spring Break and it includes Hootie's roll away bed that came with women's panties in it :)
At about 3:10 into the video.... you can see the discovery of the panties. It's quite priceless. Watching this video soooo just took me down memory lane!!



This is one of my favorite pics of him from Elizabeth City, NC when we played the Coast Guard Base last summer. This would be the AFTER pic :) After the band become his life...


Things I Will Miss About Hootie:

His "Raptor"
He would become a raptor and sneak up behind me... you know... like a raptor... claws and all... and scare me in a gas station... or wherever.
This would be Hoot raptoring ducks in the Gardens in Boston:


His endless wealth of knowledge for comic books... what will I do when the next comic book movie comes out!?!?!

His inability to be normal in a group photo:


Discussing LOST. Well... who am I kidding... that will NEVER stop. We already text about Lost...

Emo Hoot:



Singing With Hoot:


His organization. This kid would have his suitcase unpacked with everything where it needed to go before I usually had opened mine!

And well... just HIM!!! He is one of the sweetest and most likeable guys. His laugh is infectious, and his sense of humor is definitely one-of-a-kind!

I sure am gonna miss this guy!!!

We love you Hootie. Good luck in EVERYTHING you do.



Peace. Love. Fiddle. Hootie.
~natalie

Johnson and Wales University, Providence, Rhode Island

Tonight we played at Johnson and Wales University in Providence Rhode Island.

It is VERY good to be back from Spring Break!!!! :) I think we ALL really enjoyed getting to take a week to spend time with family and I know it was great for me to get to write a bunch. But there's nothing like playing live! It's why we do what we do :)

The room was so cool tonight. We used our own sound system, but I did NOT have to use any reverb :) The room naturally had plenty of reverb. And all the students with UIB tonight helped us out so much!!! They were great about helping us load and unload gear. Thank you so much!


Tonight I had my first iphone signing :) I felt WAAAAY cool about that.


Signing the "guns"


Ya'll know I am partial to any Boston girl!


One of my best friends from Opryland days came to the show tonight!!! This is Sarah Mattingley, and we haven't seen each other since we were 14! Her dad lives in Nashville and he had a booth at the Opryland themepark - he made all these cool leather bracelets and belts and things. She used to come hang out with us at the Kid's Club Show. I told her I felt like I was 12 again looking out in the audience and seeing her there!



The show was great, the audience was great, the school was amazing. Good first day back on the job! Thanks Johnson and Wales!!! See you soon!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie